Oiler



Patented July 11, 1939 UNITED STAT S BAT T QEFIC'E 2,165,634. I g ml Qscar H. Jung and Paul E. Hefielfinger, ltlilwankee, Wis;

iece M 2, 918*? ee 9 $6 634 4, Claims. (c1. reg- 54 I This invention appertains to oilers of the type or shaft lubricator, which comprises a reservoir particularly adapted for lubricating the bearings 5. This reservoir can beconstructd from any of shafts. desired materiaLbut preferably a: glass,"so-that One of the primaryobjects of our invention is the height of; the oil therein can be readilyseen e to provide a visible oiler, for shafts which will by an observer. 5 supply oil to the bearing. in direct accord with In the present instance, the reservoir 5 is in the needs of the bearing without waste and'withthe ature of a bottle and hence includes a body out any attention on the part of the operator portion 6 having a restricted neck I. This neck other than to fill the reservoir from time to time. I is closed by acap 8, which can be detachab ly lo Another salient object of our invention is to united therewith in any conventional manner. 10 provide a lubricator embodying an interior ther- As illustrated, the cap; and neck are provided mo-dome affected by the heat; of the bearing for with mating threads, A gasket or washer 9 is supplying oil thereto in accordance ,with' the ass ciated with the cap-for engaging the outer temperature of the bearing. edge of the neck so as to seal the reservoir. E? A further object of our invention is to provide In accordance with our invention, the cap 8 novel means for arranging the thermo-dome in is provided with an opening U} in which is insert the lubricator or oiler, whereby the same will not ed the feed tube ll. The feed tube I I has formed be afiected by outside temperature, but by the thereon an annular collar I2 for engaging the temperature of the bearing alone, the dome beouter face of the cap and for limiting the ining positioned within the reservoir so that the sertion of the feed tube within' the 'cap. The oil surrounding the dome will function as a heat extreme inner end of the feed tube is upset or insulator from" outside temperature. flanged over, as at It}, into intimate contact with A further important. object of our invention is the interior of the cap. This construction rigidthe provision of novel and simple means for rely and permanently securesthe'feed' tube to'the stricting the flow of oil from the reservoir, so cap. The outer end of the feed tube-may be 5 that the oil will be delivered a drop at a time to provided with exterior threads 14;, for a purpose the bearing. which will be later set forth.

A still further object of our invention is to 'It is highly desirable to limit the flow of oil provide an improved shaft oiler of the above from thereservoir' to a bearing, so that-the oil character, which will be durable and efficient in will be fed only'a drop at a'time. This can be 30 use, one that will be simple and easy to manuaccomplished in different manners, such as by facture, and one which can be placed upon the forming the outer end of the tube with a minute market and incorporated with a'bearing at a opening; This-however; is'expensive, and hence small cost. we have provided a. novel and simple means for With these and other objects in view, the inrestricting the oil flow. 1 c 35 vention consists in the novel constructions, ar- ""Upon the'forming of the threads M on the rangement, and formation of parts, as will be tube,'the'outer end of the tube is beveled, as at hereinafter more specifically described, claimed, I5, and this beveled end is then slightly flanged and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in, as at l6. A plug I! having a tapered end I8,

40 in which drawing: is slidably mounted within the tube. The di- 4 Figure l is a side elevation of our improved ameter of the plug is slightly less than the inoiler, with parts thereof broken away and in terior diameter of the tube to provide a loose fit, section to illustrate structural details, the view so that the seepage of oil around the plug will being shown on an enlarged scale with the oiler be permitted. The tapered end l8 of the plug associated with a fragment of a bearing. rests upon the flanged end l6 of the tube, so that 45 Figure 2 is a side elevation of an adapter for downward movement of the plug is limited. An facilitating the association of the oiler with cerimperfect seat is formed between the plug and tain types of bearings. the flanged end Hi to permit the slight flow of Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail oil between the plug and the flange, and masectional view illustrating the means of forming chining of the flanged end l6 and the tapered 50 the guide sleeve for the oil limiting plug. end of the plug is eliminated. The oil seeping Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein around the plug will follow the tapered end 18 similar reference characters designate correand fall from said end drop by drop.

sponding parts throughout the several views, the In order to supply oil to the bearing in accordletter 0 generally indicates my improved oiler ance with the needs thereof, we provide a so- 55 called thermo-dome I9. This thermo-dome I9 can take the form of an elongated metal cap including an inner wall 20 and a cylindrical side wall 2| having oil inlets 22 adjacent to its outer end. The outer end of the cap beyond the oil inlets 22, is slightly reduced-in diameter to provide a shoulder 23, which is adapted to abut against the flanged inner end I3 of the oil feed tube I I. The outer restricted end of the thermodome is. forced into the inner end of the feed tube II and has a tight friction fit therewith.

In use of our improved lubricator, the cap 8 1 is removed from the reservoir 5 and the reservoir is filled with oil, and when the cap is again fitted on the neck, the reservoir is turned to its inverted position.

The threaded end of the guide sleeve can now be threaded into a bearing opening. Where the bearing opening is too large to directly receive the threaded end of the tube I I, an adapter 25 can be utilized. This adapter 25 includes an elongated sleeve 26 having its inner end split at spaced points, as at 21, to provide friction tongues 28 for engaging and gripping the sleeve. The outer end of the body 26 is provided with external threads 29 for fitting in the bearing opening 30 of a bearing 3| for a shaft 32.

When the rservoir is inverted, the oil will fiow into the thermo-dome I9 and into the tube II above the plug I1, and will confine a body of air within the dome and slightly compress the body of air. I

Normally, the oil will be held in the tube and against fiow by its own capillary attraction, or

by the adhesion of the oil molecules. As the bearing heats up, the heat will be conductedup the tube II to the thermo-dome and heat the air within the dome I9. Upon the expansion of the air, due to the raising of the temperature thereof, the oil will be forced down past the plug, and will be delivered drop-by drop to the bearing. As the bearing cools, and the air in the dome contracts, a slight suctionwill be placed onthe oil inthe tube, and hence the oil will be drawn up from around the plug.

- Great stress is laid on the position of the thermo-dome I9, in that the same is entirely surrounded by the oil, which acts as a heat insulator therefor to prevent the same from being afiected by an outside temperature.

If the air 24 above the oil in the reservoir expands slightly, due to room temperatures and the like, when the bearing is in a cool condition, the air in the thermo-dome, due to its compressibility, will allow the oil to rise in said dome, and thus act as a compensator or balancing means for preventing the discharge of oil to the bearing.

Changes in details may be made without de parting from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what we claim as new is:

1. The combination with a bearing, of a lubricating device therefor including a reservoir for the lubricant, and means for feeding the lubricant to the bearing from the reservoir in accordance with the temperature variation of the bearing including a thermo-dome for confining trapped air disposed wholly within the reservoir, said dome having no contact with the side and top walls of said reservoir.

2. The combination with a bearing, of a lubricating device therefor including a reservoir for the lubricant, and means for feeding the lubricant to the bearing from the reservoir in accordance with the temperature variation of the bearing including a thermo-dome for confining trapped air affected by heat from the bearing and insulated from the walls of the reservoir by the oil in said reservoir, said dome having no contact with the side top walls of said reservoir.

3. A thermo lubricating device for bearings comprising an oil reservoir, a feed tube communicating with said reservoir, and means for feed-' ing the lubricant through the .tube in accordance with the temperature variations of a bearing including a thermo-dome having a closed inner end and an open outer end fitted in the tube, said dome having oil inlets communicating with the reservoir inward of the closed end of said dome, whereby to form an air space in the dome between the oil and the closed end of the dome, said dome being wholly. positioned within the oil in the reservoir having no contact with the walls thereof.

4. A thermo lubricating device forbearings comprising a reservoirincluding a bodyhaving one end open, a cap detachably associated with the bodyfor sealing said open end, a feed tube connected with the cap. and communicating with the interior of the body, means for restricting the flow of oil from the tube, and-means for feeding the lubricant through the tube in accordance with the temperature variation of the bearing with which the tube is associated, including a thermo-dome having a closed inner end and an open outer end fitted .within said tube, said dome having oil inlets adjacent to the tube and spaced from the closed inner end of the tube to form an air space between the closed inner end of the dome and the oil in said dome, the dome being wholly spaced from the side walls of the body and entirely surrounded by the oil therein, and having no contact with said walls.

OSCAR H. JUNG. I v PAUL E. I-IEFFELFINGER. 

